The leadership of the House of Representatives on Thursday dismissed insinuation on the alleged cold war between the Executive and Legislature.
Abdulrazak Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, gave the assurance while responding to question on the position of Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state who held closed door meeting with the leadership of All Progressive Congress (APC) on weekly briefing disclosed that the House is still consulting on the President’s proposal.
Namdas however, noted that the statement credited to Okorocha who doubles as Chairman of the Progressive Governors should not be misconstrued with the position of the House.
What the man (Okorocha) said was on behalf of the Progressive Governors and I’m sure the Speaker dis not say there was showdown, assuming it’s from the Speaker, then I will say there’s division.
“But this is from the Governors and I’m not one the Governors. I’m so sure there’s no cold war but I’m aware we are going to work with the Executive and Judiciary in order to ensure that Nigerians get the dividends of democracy,” Namdas told Legislative Correspondents.
While responding to the decision of the House to step down the consideration of the $29.6 billion, Namdas who acknowledged that the proposal suffered major setback on the floor of the Senate, however noted that the House has not discountenance the proposal.
The Adamawa lawmaker who explained that the leadership of the House is still consulting on the next line of action, noted that the House has been considering other request from the President.
In a related development, Kawu Sumaila, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters has expressed optimism that the House of Representatives will approve the $29.6 billion foreign borrowing plan initaited by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Sumaila gave the assurance at a press briefing held in Abuja, in response to the lingering crisis trailing the rejection of the external borrowing plan.
The former Deputy Minority Leader, explained that he has been in “constant touch with the leadership of the House of Representatives and the relevant committees since President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded the request for the approval to borrow the sum of $29.9 billion under the Government’s Borrowing Plan (Foreign).
“Based on my interaction with the leaders of the House, I am optimistic that the House would approve the President’s request as contained in his letter to the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
“However, I wish to state categorically that we have identified the need to furnish the 360-members of the House with the detailed breakdown of the borrowing plan to enable them make informed decision on the matter.
“We are confident that the Senate, which had in a way demanded for the details, would revisit its position on the matter once the details are made available.
“While we are in talking terms with the leadership of the House of Representatives on this issue, I wish to state that we will continue to persuade the lawmakers and make available the details on the loan request soonest,” Sumaila expressed optimism.
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